


E is for Eventually

by goodmorningvietnam666



Series: IronHawk Alphabet [5]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Iron Man (Comic), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Balloons, Clint is also head over heels in love, Clint is patient, First Kiss, M/M, Pizza, Private Jokes, Skinny Dipping, Steve is the product of many jokes, Sweet Moments, Tony is oblivious, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, movies - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 14:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1714295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodmorningvietnam666/pseuds/goodmorningvietnam666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton had been friends with Tony Stark for a long time, and they’d been good friends for a long time, but, Clint had always wanted that little bit more… </p>
<p>In which Tony is oblivious and Clint is patient (head over heels).</p>
            </blockquote>





	E is for Eventually

When people asked Clint whether or not he was busy on any day, most would come away empty handed as his responses involved “Tony and I are” or “Tony is” or “Actually… I was planning on doing x and y with Tony this evening” on a regular basis. As nice as it was that the archer was always occupied and not spending all of his waking moments on the shooting range, people were growing frustrated at his permanent occupancy. 

Clint couldn’t exactly see why it bothered them so much; he certainly didn’t mind.

///

“Hey hey” Tony announced himself as he walked through Clint’s apartment door and the archer barely glanced over as he raised a hand in greeting. 

The genius beamed and held the box in his hands up with a flourish “I brought pizza” 

“And I’m watching Walker Texas Ranger” Clint replied, scooting over on his sofa when Tony made his way over and flopped down next to him, opening the box of pizza and resting it on his lap, kicking his shoes off lazily. 

They sat together without a word, eating as the television made all the noise for them. 

“Work?” Clint asked briefly, throwing an arm over the back of the sofa.

“Awful” Tony replied “There was something up with the stocks that no one could figure out and it took the entire day to get done and now I have not two, but _four_ piles of paperwork waiting for me in my office tomorrow”

“Damn, the most I did today was fix the antenna” Clint admitted with a smile, the grin widening as the genius laughed in response. 

Tony stayed the night, and then proceeded to almost burn down the kitchen in the morning.

///

“Clint, are you busy?”

Clint looked up to the sound of Tony’s voice and smirked “Yeah… let me guess… you’re busting me out?”

“Hell yes”

///

They were cleaning up what was the aftermath of another Avengers mission, this time staying back to deal with the collateral damage. They had been working for hours, and the sun was now low in the sky, Clint was certain he’d be bored to death soon enough. 

“Hey Clint” Tony whispered form across a pile of rubble, a wide grin on his face as he pointed to Steve’s back as it was turned “1422” 

After five seconds of trying to repress it, a hyena like laugh escaped from Clint’s lips, and his friend joined him, exploding in fits of chuckles that didn’t stop until later that night when Clint had said his goodbyes to the genius.

He couldn’t even remember what he was laughing about.

///

It was a sunny day in New York and Clint was walking with Tony in Central Park; their arms brushing against one another infrequently as they talked softly.

Clint stopped when the genius came to a halt and tugged gently on the archer’s shirt, pulling him in the direction of a stall given out deflated white balloons and small pieces of paper. 

“What am I doing now?” Clint asked exasperatedly as Tony handed him a balloon and a piece of paper. 

“Write anything on that piece of paper, fold it up and have the attendant inflate it: then let it go… it’s like a confession or a message in a bottle sort of thing” the genius answered calmly, scrawling down a note on his own piece of paper. 

Clint huffed and shook his head, before penciling down one word: _EVENTUALLY._

///

It was an extremely cold night on the docks of New York; the one that he and Tony were walking on was deprived of ships and only had the water to accompany it. Their night had been an eventful one, and they had been kicked out of several venues due to their actions. 

Suddenly, the genius stopped and started kicking off his shoes, shucking of his jacket and grinning at the archer.

“What _are_ you doing?” Clint asked, laughing and watching as fog left his mouth as he spoke. 

“Going swimming” Tony answered, undoing his tie and moving to his shirt “Come on” 

Clint huffed and watched the older man for a moment before he realised that Tony was serious and then began to undress himself as well. 

As he was wrestling with his shoes, he was almost knocked over when the genius patted his back and took a running jump off the dock, Clint hearing a splash and a gasp as he finally rid himself of his last article of clothing. 

“This is nuts!” he called “It’s gotta be freezing in there!” 

“Come on Clint! Live a little” The genius’s laughter bubbled and echoed in the dead silence, sending Clint’s love – filled heart soaring.

That was all the encouragement he needed: he jumped. 

“GODAMMIT TONY IT’S FUCKING FREEZING IN HERE!!”

///

Clint walked into Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion with about five boxes of popcorn as requested, and then let one laugh go when he saw what the reason was.

“A Star Wars… and Lord of the Rings marathon?” he asked disbelievingly, dumping both the popcorn and himself next to Tony gently. 

“Hey, we’re adults: we can do this” the genius answered, settling into his sofa as he started their first movie of the night.

Clint just chuckled: there was no way he’d be doing anything productive tomorrow.

They ended up falling asleep during Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and being awoken by a Nazgul screech in Return of the King, laughing at themselves when they flailed around for a moment, before Clint fell off the sofa, sending popcorn everywhere. 

The amount of coffee they consumed the next day could have been record breaking.

///

The Malibu sun was hot on Clint’s back as he walked side by side with Tony on the beach, laughing and joking with him, giving the older man a rough shove every time he’d say something impossible.

One particular shove sent the genius into the water, effectively drenching him in the high tide.

Clint was silent in shock for a moment, and then the laughter started. 

He laughed even as Tony responded by pulling him into the water as well, laughed as he was continuously thrown off balance by the waves, laughed as he wrestled Tony in the water, and kept laughing when they lay down on the powdery white sand higher up from the water. 

When he stopped, with a long gasp and then a sigh, he noticed the way that the genius was looking at him, leaning across the archer on his elbows with a fond smile on his face.

And then he kissed Clint.

He had gotten his eventually...

And it was well worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> 1422 - One day Tony is drunk and says that Steve doesn't get a joke because he's from "1422 or some year like that"
> 
> It's not mentioned but it's a private joke so, the basic principle was not to mention it... whoops.
> 
> Thanks for Reading!


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